Dong starts flidar measurement campaign in the Irish Sea

According to the involved companies, the first commercial offshore wind measurement campaign using floating Lidar in European waters has kicked off. FLiDAR NV has deployed a Lidar buoy for Dong Energy in the southern East Irish Sea. The partnership initially involves a one year measurement campaign in the Irish Sea.

The Flidar equipment consists of a marine buoy equipped with a state-of-the-art buoy-adapted Leosphere’s windcube v2 lidar held in a passive mechanical stabilisation system. It has previously been tested and validated in the North Sea and in the Irish Sea (as part of the UK’s Carbon Trust Offshore Wind Accelerator programme). The performance has been analysed and validated by third parties and has been proven to deliver wind data with accuracy equivalent to standard offshore wind measurements.

Hugh Yendole at Dong Energy’s Wind business said: “The flidar unit represents another example of how we are looking at technology across the development and construction process to help lower the cost of offshore wind. We are looking forward to seeing the results from the tests in the Irish Sea that will help to inform our potential future projects in the area.”

The General Manager of FLiDAR, Bruce Douglas, said: “We are delighted to be delivering low-cost, high-value wind data to Dong Energy. The flidar technology and the ongoing partnership with Dong Energy represent a major break-through for the offshore wind industry, enabling further cost reductions for offshore wind resource assessments”.

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